Categorie: Creates

The pandering by Donald Trump and those around him to Israel and to some conservative American Jews is apparently endless. Last Wednesday the president signed an executive order that is intended to address alleged anti-Semitism on college campuses by cutting off funds to those universities that do not prevent criticism of Israel. To provide a legal basis to defund, the administration is relying on title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits any discrimination based on race, color or national origin. Since the Act does not include religion, Trump’s order is declaring ipso facto that henceforth “Jewishness” is a nationality.

The executive order does not mention Israel by name, but it does state that its assumptions are based on “the non-legally binding working definition of anti-Semitism adopted on May 26, 2016, by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA), which states, ‘Antisemitism is a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of antisemitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities’; and (ii) the ‘Contemporary Examples of Anti-Semitism’ identified by the IHRA, to the extent that any examples might be useful as evidence of discriminatory intent.”

The IHRA “contemporary examples” supplementing the basic description are important. They considerably broaden the definition of anti-Semitism, to include “Accusing Jewish citizens of being more loyal to Israel, or to the alleged priorities of Jews worldwide, than to the interests of their own nations” and “claiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavor.” The examples also included holding Israel to a higher standard than other nations when criticizing it, and IHRA offers no possible mitigation even if the accusations are, in the case of the behavior of some Jews and of Israel, accurate.

Those who are confused because in the past expressions like “Italian” or “Irish” or “British” meant actual countries should recognize that Trump-speak never respects any connection with reality when there is political advantage just sitting out there waiting to be snatched and exploited. And that imperative is considerably multiplied when one is referring to either the state of Israel or of Jews in general, particularly as seen by the Trump White House,

Colombian President Ivan Duque has announced the creation of a “special unit” devoted to the capture of former FARC militants, who recently called for renewed fighting with the government, threatening to revive a 50 year conflict.

Appearing in a video posted online on Thursday, a former FARC commander – known by his pseudonym, Ivan Marquez – urged for a “new era of struggle” in Colombia, three years after the guerrilla faction laid down its arms in a historic peace deal with the government, which the Marquez accused Bogota of failing to uphold.

The president responded with a video of his own later on Thursday afternoon, announcing the launch of a new unit and offering a cash reward for information that leads to the former commander’s arrest.

“I ordered the creation of a special unit for the persecution of criminals that appear in the video together with ‘Iván Márquez’,” the president said. “For each of these criminals a reward of $3 billion [Colombian pesos, or $861,000 USD] will be set for information that leads to their capture.”

Duque stressed, however, that the government remains committed to peace with FARC members who have participated in the reconciliation process and who have renounced all armed activity.

In another press conference on Thursday, Colombian High Commissioner for Peace Miguel Ceballos accused the ex-commanders of filming the video from Venezuelan territory, arguing there was “clear support of the dictatorship of Nicolás Maduro,” though he provided no evidence for the assertion.

Self-declared “interim president” of Venezuela Juan Guaido also weighed into the matter in a pair of tweets, stating he’d spoken with Duque and denounced “the use of Venezuelan territory under the protection of Maduro” to spread the message of “narcoterrorism.”

Also on rt.com
Colombia & FARC shake on historic peace deal after 52 years of CIA-funded war

The previous conflict with FARC – or the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia – raged on for over 50 years,

The new data protection legislation in Europe known as GDPR. has resulted in simply overwhelming the government with complaints and inquiries from small businesses who do not understand the regs. In Germany, the various agencies are reporting a 500% increase in complaints. Even in Bavaria, 2,974 consultations took place in 2017, and so far this year it has reached 7,000 by October 1st. This legislation was really all about being able to prevent mass email campaigns that were political. They really did not care if people received junk emails. However, creating a law and pretending it is to protect consumers requires broad language to hide the fact it was to prevent political solicitation. They have created a nightmare all to prevent email campaigns that took place in the 2016 US presidential elections.

QUESTION: The coalition agreement in Germany provided for criminal sanctions against companies of any size. Naturally, the large companies can withstand such an attack. Small business cannot. Do you see this as another push over the cliff for Europe since Germany is the pillar of the EU economy?

Thank you from Berlin

HS

ANSWER: Unfortunately, this new provision was demanded by the SPD. It allows for major suits through the back door which will destroy small business and expose them to financial risks that may make it just impossible to do business. Major companies like VW can weather the storm of a criminal action. This allows even for antitrust proceedings in price agreements. People will be able to allege and off you go on with years of investigation that may lead even nowhere. Even the closure of a production plant that violates environmental guidelines will be actionable. The list goes on and on. While the administrative offense law can impose fines. here we are looking at actually criminal prosecutions. When criminal actions become profitable to the accusor, tyranny flourishes.

This is one more step at the exact wrong moment that will only further restrain economic growth when it becomes too risky for small business.

Despite efforts in some European countries such as plastic bottle deposit schemes or having to pay for plastic bags in the supermarket, Statista’s Martin Armstrong notes that the average EU citizen creates 31kg of plastic waste per year.